JGH maintains performance despite deficit, says auditors report

MONTREAL — The Jewish General Hospital (JGH) is maintaining and even improving its quality of service despite budgetary cuts and increasing patient volume, according to an independent group of auditors’ report released June 26.

Prepared under the supervision of former deputy health minister Pierre Gabrièle, the report commends the JGH for its “good governance and transparency” in regards to its management, a hospital press release said.

“The JGH is pleased with the results of the report, and supports the findings that this hospital is one of the most efficient and well managed in Montreal, providing patients with treatment and care of superior quality,” executive director Dr. Hartley Stern said.

The hospital said the auditors finding were especially noteworthy since so many of its patients are under age 18 or are elderly or chronically ill, entailing costly and frequent treatment.

The report said the hospital maintained its level of performance despite the year 2012 ending in a deficit, which the provincial government in 2011 pledged to pay off.

The hospital’s deficit is $59 million, of which the government has paid off $9 million. The hospital also is expecting $58.5 more in provincial funding for major projects it approved.

The JGH remains the hospital of choice for many of its patients even when offered alternate sites, the report said.

The JGH requested an independent auditors report on its own to have an objective assessment of its health-care activities and financial performance.

The hospital said the review was completed, “in order to confirm the nature of the challenges facing the hospital and to indicate where improvements might be made.”

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